An exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery offers a rare opportunity to view the complete set of Katsushika Hokusai’s renowned series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, marking its first full presentation in the United Kingdom. The collection, completed in 1833, comprises 46 prints that depict Mount Fuji from various perspectives around Edo and its surrounding regions.

Hokusai created this series in his seventies during a turbulent period marked by personal loss and financial difficulties. Despite these challenges, the artist was at the height of his creative powers. The prints gained immediate acclaim, helping to restore his reputation and inspiring contemporaries to explore the vibrant use of Prussian blue pigment, a striking synthetic dye that revolutionized color in art.

Prussian blue, introduced to Japan in the 18th century via Dutch trade, is a vivid and durable blue pigment distinct from the previously used ultramarine and organic indigo. Its richness is evident in Hokusai’s works, such as “Kajikazawa in Kai Province,” where the intense blues create dynamic contrasts between the land, water, and sky. The pigment’s introduction had far-reaching effects beyond Japan, having originated accidentally in an 18th-century Berlin laboratory where alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel’s experimental mix resulted in the novel deep blue color.

The series captures both the natural grandeur of Mount Fuji and scenes of everyday life, presenting a nuanced view of 19th-century Japanese society. Hokusai’s attention to detail animates each print with vivid activity: workers at a timber yard, falconers in conversation, and samurai on horseback all feature alongside the iconic mountain. The varying depictions of Mount Fuji also explore atmospheric effects and moods—from the warm reds of “Red Fuji” to the somber indigo tones of “Blue Fuji,” and from sudden storms to tranquil waterfront scenes.

Technical mastery is further displayed in prints like “The Tama River,” where the artist employs embossing techniques without pigment to suggest the play of light on water, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of texture and form. The show also touches on more mysterious elements of Hokusai’s late work, although it focuses primarily on the natural and social worlds rather than supernatural themes found in some other pieces from the period.

Ultimately, the exhibition highlights Hokusai’s ability to merge the earthly and the cosmic within his compositions. His most famous image, “Under the Wave off Kanagawa,” exemplifies this synthesis: it portrays fishermen caught in a powerful wave with Mount Fuji calmly positioned in the background, rendering a moment fraught with tension and visual harmony.

The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji exhibition continues at Dulwich Picture Gallery through January 17. It offers a comprehensive look at one of Japan’s greatest artistic achievements and the enduring legacy of a pigment born from scientific accident.